Dreams
by gutsandglitter
Summary: Rift activity leaves the team with awful hallucinations. Turns into Jack/Ianto fluff.


_**My first Torchwood fic. Let me know what you think!**_

_**I do not own Torchwood, unfortunately. **_

It had been a long day for everyone. Sudden rift activity had caused the entire team to hallucinate their greatest fears all day. No one would talk about what it was they were seeing, which made the impact on morale all the worse.

"Tosh, is there anything on there that says this might end soon?" Jack asked warily, as he tried desperately to try and wipe the image of the burning hub from his memory. He was sprawled across the sofa with his arm across his face, blocking out any light that might remind him of the orange flames licking the sides of his beloved home.

Tosh had been glued to her computer screens for the past 48 hours, wincing every time she caught the imaginary glimpse of her mother's rotted corpse. "This says the rift should go cold by morning," she said with false optimism. By the farmer's almanac morning was just a few hours away, but to the team this seemed like eons.

"No point in staying here, wallowing in stuff that won't even happen," Gwen interjected, hoping that the real touch of Rhys would eliminate any false images of his death.

"Yeah," Owen said softly. He had been the only team member who had not had any form of hallucination. The dead don't dream, Jack had whispered to him in passing, as if he knew what it was like. Air still filled his lungs, blood still coursed through his veins. Jack woke up from death, fit as a fiddle every time. He had no understanding of true death, Owen thought bitterly.

"Go on home, get some sleep," Jack half-heartedly commanded, although he knew that any sleep they were blessed with would be plagued with nightmares. Sleep right now would be worse than waking life, but the idea of it seemed to comfort the team. Gwen, Owen, and Tosh gratefully collected their things and left, each muttering a goodbye to Jack as they departed.

Jack let out a sigh as he heard the door shut behind them. He was alone, finally.

He heard a small cough. Maybe not.

He pulled his arm away from his face and blinked in the light. Ianto stood nearby, fidgeting with his shirt cuffs.

"Ah," Ianto said nervously. Jack waited for the rest of that sentence, but it didn't come. He grinned broadly as he closed his eyes again.

"Yes, Ianto?" he asked, using a tone of voice halfway between his professional tone and halfway between the tone he reserved for when he and Ianto were alone together.

"Jack," Ianto said carefully. "Are you going to be alright all by yourself tonight? It's been quite a rough day," he added lamely.

"I'm fine," Jack said, although he was the opposite of fine. It was one of his autopilot phrases that had no real meaning behind it. They slipped out when he was at a loss for real words.

"Oh," Ianto said, unable to disguise the disappointment in his voice. "Well then. Goodnight Sir," he said stiffly, as he began to head for the door.

Jack covered his face again. "Ianto," he called.

He heard the Welshman stop in his tracks.

"Are you going to be alright by yourself tonight?" he asked, mirroring his lover's words.

"I don't think so," Ianto said on an exhalation of breath he did not know he had been holding.

Blind to the world with his arm over his face, Jack heard Ianto drop his bag on the floor and shuffle closer. There was a moment of hesitation, then Jack felt Ianto slip into the curve of his body, fitting effortlessly against his skin. Ianto gently laid his head on Jaack's chest, then let out a sigh of relief. Jack took the arm from across his face, deciding it was worth the false image of the burning hub, and smoothed Ianto's hair before wrapping his arms around him tightly. The two men drifted off into sleep easily, and were both plagued by awful dreams of death and destruction.

Throughout the remains of the night both men awoke several times bathed in sweat and fear, but took comfort in their companion's presence. By the time morning came and all rift activity had gone blank on Tosh's screen, they were both sleeping soundly, dreaming not of dark shadows of their pasts, but the bright glimmer of hope of their shared future.


End file.
